Five Things on a Friday: Amazing Spider-Man 2 Edition

1. The trailer for Amazing Spider-Man 2 is finally out.  
If you haven’t seen it yet, well, it looks pretty good.  
Electro is one of those villains that gets treated like a relic by a lot of today’s comic writers, but as Brian Michael Bendis showed with his first arc of the New Avengers, he can be plenty terrifying.  I like the treatment that they’ve got in this movie quite a bit, as well as the fact that they have Spider-Man (Andrew Garfield) looking like he’s barely holding on by the skin of his teeth.
  
Marvel's Electro, from the Ultimate Universe.
A lot of the recent Marvel movies have used Ultimate designs.
Spider-Man is a character who works when he’s vulnerable.  They seem to get that.
2.  Offseason training is going well.
Thanks for asking.  
I’ve been trying to run three times per week, and so far, so good.  My ankle is still sore, but taking Advil before or after a run seems to control the thing well enough, so I suppose it’s not a bone thing.  That’s good.  Truth is, the thing feels fine most of the time when I run.  In fact, running doesn’t seem to aggravate it much at all.  It’s when I’m walking around in regular shoes that it drives me crazy.  I’ve no idea what that’s about, but as long as I can keep training and manage the thing, I guess it doesn’t matter.  
Needless to say, I’ve been stretching like crazy.  There’s nothing like an injury to make a guy reconnect with his yoga practice.
Anyway, I’ve been organizing my weekly running regime as follows:
  • 1 x Long Slow Distance (LSD) run, usually about an hour (6 to 7 miles)
  • 1 x Easy Maintenance Run, usually about a half hour (3.5 to 4.5 miles)
  • 1 x Faster Interval Run, about half an hour (3.5 to 4+ miles)
I also managed to get into the water for the first time in a month and a half over the weekend.  Hopefully I’ll be able to get back in this coming weekend, and that’ll be the start of something good.
3.  Running Interval Design
While we’re talking about working out, I’ve been doing running intervals that I think of as being similar to 100-yard swimming intervals.  Depending on time and how I’m feeling, I’ll do either:
  • 5 x (1:00 @ 5K pace / 1:00 easy)
  • 10 x (1:00 @ 5K pace / 1:00 easy)
In the past, I’ve tended to do more up-tempo work with less rest—for example, 5 x 4:00 @ 10K pace / 2:00 east—but I’m beginning to think that was a mistake.  Doing these shorter, faster intervals seems like it’s having an effect that’s similar to the effect I get from swimming the same kind of shorter intervals, and that’s good.  It’s a good way to build basic aerobic fitness.  
Once that base is built, maybe I’ll be able to add on the longer intervals, but honestly, I’d like to keep running without injury more than I’d like to hurry up and get fast, so at this point, I’m not in any rush.
4.  What does it say about me that I really like the new Lady Gaga song?
Seriously.  I’m a forty-year-old man, and Gaga’s new album hasn’t even got good reviews, but I find “Applause” to be incredibly catchy.
See what I mean?
5.  I haven’t even start Christmas shopping yet.
Sally’s done most of the shopping for the girls, but I still have to get her something for Christmas—and for our anniversary, which is also coming up soon—and, at least in terms of sheer consumerism, I’m still not sure what I’m going to do.  I think I know what I’m going to make for her for the holiday, and that’s good, but it’s only part of the answer.  
And, of course, I have to come up with the time to get it done, but then, so do we all.
***
That’s all I got this week.  Have a good weekend.

Comments

  1. Lady Gaga's video is weird. Oh, wait is that what she's going for? Well, right on the money. Song was ok. First time I've heard it. So don't know if it's catchy. Yet.

    Exercise wise, I over did it on Thanksgiving week, golfing, 40 minute walk, 5K walk on Thanksgiving, and lots of odd stuff which added up to shin splints. This week was lots better. Back to my normal routine (cardio, body weight exercises, & zumba). My coach said I had "the most active Thanksgiving in America."

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    1. My reading on the Gaga video is that it's a parody. She's showing the insane lengths to which she's willing to go in order to get your attention because she's addicted to game. That's why she spends all that time in the black suit; to make the contrast with the rest, so that we'll realize how ridiculous it all is. I posted he thing before I'd seen it, but now that I've watched it a couple of times, I think it's really clever.

      On exercise... That's excellent. My wife teaches a few exercise classes, and she swears by them.

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